Send us a text JohnDennisMusic.com BrettRyanStewart.com Wirebird ProductionsBy Brett Ryan Stewart, John Dennis

Send us a text At some point, we’ve all encountered the messaging that it pays to be a “Yes!” person. Whether from our parents, the endless barrage of self-help materials, or the 2008 titular classic starring Jim Carrey, the wisdom is always the same: say yes to life, push past your comfort zone, abandon your boundaries, put others first, take risk…

Send us a text In all of our incessant thoughts of “not good enough,” “not successful enough,” “not far enough along” how often do we stop and actually consider what exactly we are measuring our supposed insufficiencies against? There must be some basis for comparison. Maybe it’s the mythologized overnight success stories that Hollywood crafts arou…

Send us a text Webster’s Dictionary defines burnout as—just kidding, this isn’t a middle school book report (it’s worse). The point is, you probably don’t need burnout defined for you because, let’s face it, if you’re listening to this podcast—and reading its description—you know exactly what it feels like. It can be just brutal to find yourself de…

Send us a text You know the type. Sometimes when we find ourselves hurling sheepishly through our own galaxy wondering if there’s any other life out there, and, if there is, whether they’ll find any priceless minerals beneath our stony exterior—yep, really going for it with the comet metaphor. However, sometimes we might find our celestial path cau…

Send us a text Though it’s safe to say that, if you’re listening to this podcast, you’re day isn’t going perfectly, are you the type that’s bothered by that sort of thing? How often do you find yourself chained by the exhausting anxiety of perfectionism? Do you find your joy spoiled and your peace sapped when your endeavors inevitably don’t go prec…

Send us a text It’s an age old artistic question: does the aim of being professionally creative destroy or empower the impetus for actual creation? Whereas one’s mind may go to the adage of “do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life,” anyone who has assigned an occupational dimension to artistry has almost certainly wound up, now a…

Send us a text We know what we want. We know when we want it. We think, at least. Every time we actually get serious about our dreams we find ourselves resisting every step towards actually fulfilling them. What gives? What is it about actually starting to see the success we have long craved coming to fruition that inspires us to self-sabotage? In …

Send us a text In the early innings of yet another new year, compelled to take on fresh resolutions and (likely short-lived) self-improvement projects, it can be difficult not to get overwhelmed by the incessant pressure to always be working on oneself. Of course, it is both noble and worthwhile to be willing to grow and heal, but is it possible to…

Send us a text We all have moments in our lives that we look back on and cringe. Maybe it’s a legitimate regret at an opportunity we wish our previous self had taken or a situation we could have handled differently. Maybe it’s something as truly heinous as telling the cashier at the movie theater “you too” when they tell you to enjoy your movie (wh…

Send us a text As difficult as it is, some days, to bring oneself to be creative, it can seem almost impossible to envision a life in which creativity happens on a consistent basis. This can seem even more insurmountable if one finds that, on those rare days of creative output, it is more the result of a frenzied and exhausting overdrive than a bal…

Send us a text When was the last time we really loved what we were doing? Really loved the art that we set out, however long ago, to create and the art made by others? For some of us (!?!), maybe that was as recently as today, but for many of us, that love has been barricaded deep within us by years of life’s countless convoluting forces. Maybe it …

Send us a text Is it just us or has everything been feeling a little stagnant lately? As we find ourselves caught in the monotonous whirlpool of tending to responsibilities, making ends meet, and feeling just that much older every time we come up for air, it can start to feel like our lives have lost all momentum—and the longer we’re forced to clin…

Send us a text What is true artistic freedom? We’d all almost certainly argue that it looks something like having no boundaries or restrictions to one’s creative process or the time needed to perfect it. Maybe it means having the resources to rent a studio and pay musicians for months on end, or maybe it looks more like being able to create any con…

Send us a text Why is it that no matter how vigorously we run the race of life, we always end up feeling like we’re falling behind? Whether we’re losing ground, time, or patience, why do we invariably get so bogged down by what we know to be but mundane detours in our quest for joy that we put on the back burner any of the activities that will actu…

Send us a text A good friend can be hard to find. How is it that, for a subset of people who define themselves by their sensitivity and depth, it can feel so difficult to find relationships that aren’t centered on networking and shallow small talk? Sure, we may know a hundred other artists who we get along well with, but how well do we really know …

Send us a text Sometimes it gets to feeling like the acts we put on pervade well beyond the literal stage. In an age where we feel like the eyes of the world are always upon us (at least in our heads), it can become difficult to know who we are underneath it all—both as artists and as people. In this episode of Nah-cademics, Brett and John try to g…

Send us a text Episode 4: You Are Not Your Art Why does it matter so much that others like our art ? Sure, we can all cling to the rational platitudes of “it doesn’t matter, so long as we personally love what we’re doing,” but let’s face it, it still hurts our feelings when others don’t share the belief that we’re doing something special—and more i…

Send us a text Pt 2: New Year, Same Me ‘Tis (still) the season! In this follow up holiday episode, Brett and John shift their rambling from the past-looking pathos of Christmas to the futile futurism of New Years—for what better cure for spending another holiday ruminating on all that we’ve lost and fallen short of than to set new resolutions to in…

Send us a text Pt. 1: Walking Backwards Through Life ’Tis the season! On this two-part episode, Brett and John sing the holiday blues—not literally, thank goodness—and attempt to get to the bottom of that subtle, unspoken sadness that always seems to undergird this time of year. Maybe it’s the dwindling sunlight, the passage of time, or having too …

Send us a text Come, overthink with us. Who do you make art for? Do you feel like you owe it to anyone to keep being an artist? Is starting a podcast (and calling it art) really worth disappointing your parents over? This podcast will not help you answer those questions—well, except maybe the last one—but in the debut episode of Nah-cademics, Brett…